AN ERROR ANALYSIS ON THE USE OF SIMPLE PAST TENSE IN STUDENTS NARRATIVE TEXT

This study aimed to analyze students’ error in writing simple past narrative for junior high school. This study was conducted by using qualitative descriptive method. The subject of this research was Grade VIII students in SMP N 3 Balige, Sumatera Utara consisting of 26 students. The data of this study were English narrative materials for Grade VIII of SMP N 3 Balige. Instruments for collecting
data were interview and existing material. To collect the data of this research, the writer gave a test to the eighth gradestudents of SMP N 3 BALIGE. The writer used a guided writing for the test in order the students know what should be written. Then the students’ assignmentswere collected by the writer. From this, the writer knew the common errors andthe sources of error made by students in
narrative writing focused on simple pasttense.The writer made the table of student errors those are taken from the data analysis. From the calculation of the data, the errors of regular verb were the lowest frequent errors in which the eighth grade students at SMP N 3 Balige committed with 43.75 % in regular verb. Moreover, it was followed by errors of misinformation with 16.78%, addition with 30.54%, omission with 36.94% and misordering with 15.76%. Then, there were 56.25 %in irregular verb. Followed by errors in addition are 27.96%, omission with 27.58%, 19.92% by misordering and 24.52% in misinformation.